NEWEST FEATURES

• Creation of a 3D model extruded from a 2D model cross section
• Surface Suction Correction Factor added for the SVFlux Correction of Relative Humidity at Soil Surface option and made the default
• Vereecken estimation of van Genuchten SWCC Fit parameters from grainsize data
• Pressure head boundary conditions
• Geomembrane boundary conditions now available in 1D, 2D, and 3D models which allow easier simulation of geomembranes
• Drawing of Tunnel objects with the mouse in 2D and 3D models
• Full three way coupling of SVAirflow™, SVHeat™, and SVFlux™ processes
• Tutorial sidebar provides quick reference to basic model steps right in the CAD view
• Planar Geometry
• Additional features are listed below

FEATURE COMPARISON

DETAILED FEATURES

• Multiple types of analysis available including steady-state and transient, with both saturated and unsaturated material models. Create models in 1D, 2D, 3D, plan, or axisymmetric views
• Flow modeling in the unsaturated / vadose zone is fully supported. When bundled with SoilVision, SVFlux gains access to the world's best unsaturated soil property estimation methods. Seven methods of theoretically estimating the soil-water characteristic curve including Arya & Paris, Fredlund & Wilson, and Vereecken are included. Eight methods of estimating saturated permeability are included as well as five methods for estimating unsaturated permeability
• Spatially varying soil properties
• Comprehensive climatic interface allows handling of crusts, wet and dry conditions, and even snow!
• Climatic coupling brings the power of seepage modeling to slope stability, contaminant transport, stress / deformation, air flow, and geothermal problems
• Fully automatic mesh generation: mesh generation may be limited by a maximum number of nodes or by a maximum specified error.
  
  - View examples of three-dimensional meshing in action
• Fully automatic mesh refinement
  
  - Mesh refinement is based on the relative error of the governing equation and therefore automatically locates critical zones. Mesh refinement may be specified to follow any particular variable in the problem. In a transient analysis a different mesh is generated for each time step.
  - Read more about adaptive grid refinement in research published by Mansell, 2002
• Finite element analysis by the Galerkin method - the solver uses advanced features such as preconditioning of the convergence matrix as well as staging and automatic mesh refinement to achieve solutions with greater stability than any other software currently available
• Stochastic Analysis - input soil property variables may be input as normal distributions or Monte Carlo simulations. For example, saturated hydraulic conductivity can be input as a lognormal distribution and the resulting variation output.
• Flux sections may be placed at any location in the model - mass flux may be integrated across irregular vertical walls or surfaces, and water flow with time may be tracked across flux sections
• Model unsaturated heave or swell by coupling with SVSolid™ Professional
• Model settlements in the saturated or unsaturated zone
• Customizable solutions through a modifiable governing partial differential equation
• Input flux or climate boundary conditions as constants or free-form equations
• Initial conditions may be imported from a previous analysis; use any variable from a previous analysis as an initial condition for the next analysis
• Anisotropic analysis at any angle in two or three dimensions
• Perched or multiple water tables may be incorporated
• Contour or vector plots of pressure and head are possible
• Solver runs on Red Hat Linux or Windows, with support for hyper-threading and multiple processors

MODEL DESIGN FEATURES

• CAD style entry of geometry based on AutoCAD™
• Grid, snapping, and object snapping features available
• Zooming, panning features available
• Model built as stacked surfaces; Each surface may be imported from Surfer or any XYZ data text file
• Models stored in XML format for speed and easy data transfer
• Each surface may have multiple regions defined - Regions are extruded between the surfaces on which they are placed
• Automatic pinching out of intersecting soil layers or grids. Overlapping grids can also be handled by specifying which grid is the domainant grid. They can also be specified to allow a minimum thickness between grids.
• Import AutoCAD™ .dxf geometry and incorporate it directly into the model - node points are automatically aligned with line segment end points
• Graphically assigned boundary conditions
• Free form equations or tabled precipitation data may be input as boundary conditions (in addition to standard head or flux boundary conditions). Head or flux boundary conditions may be specified as contants or free-form equations. Free form equations may be specified as a function of position or time (i.e., h=30+exp(t)*2.5)
• Evaporative boundary conditions are now included in SVFlux, as an implementation of the Modified Penman equation. This allows fast modeling of the long-term performance of soil covers. (Note: This feature is not available in the student version of SVFlux)
• Tables of net flux data may be cut and pasted into SVFlux to act as boundary conditions. This feature allows modeling of flux boundaries where weather station data is available. The z-component of vertical flux boundaries may be isolated to simulate precipitation on steep irregular surfaces.
• Review boundary conditions are implemented to determine the outcrop of the water table on downstream slopes.
• Problems may be entered in Metric or Imperial units
• Initial water table may be graphically drawn on the problem or imported from a previous analysis
• Import soil-water characteristic curve or permeability data from SoilVision?. When bundled with SoilVision, SVFlux gains access to a database of 6000+ laboratory-measured soil-water characteristic curves, 2500 measured saturated permeabilities, and over 600 unsaturated permeability curves. Soil-water characteristic (soil moisture retention) curves and saturated or unsaturated hydraulic conductivities (permeabilities) may be determined in a laboratory or estimated using SoilVision.
• A central database of soil properties for all entered seepage problems is maintained; new problems may draw soils from existing problems (Note: this feature does not require SoilVision?)
• Problem geometry may be imported from existing problems
• Colors or patterns of soil regions may be specified
• Manual entry of region coordinate points
• Lines (extruded into walls) may be added to model to force mesh refinement along a linear object
• Internal boundary conditions may be set or node density specified along internal line objects
• Sketch text or lines may be added to the model design
• Graphical model design may be exported as a WMF or DXF file and/or printed
• Bitmap or DXF geometry may be imported and layered behind model geometry to simplify model creation

OUTPUT FEATURES

• Color visualization of the result mesh is available via our powerful AcuMesh™ visualization software
• Transparency allows visualization of three-dimensional internal mesh and/or isosurfaces
• Cutaways allow user to view internal sections of the model
• Color contour plots of any problem variable may be placed on any face of the model; custom color shadings may be specified
• Color contour plots of all relevant variables
• Isosurfaces may be plotted for three-dimensional models
• Two- or three-dimensional vector plots of flux components are available
• Plots may be zoomed to isolate any region of interest
• Cross plots of stress or deformation components are available
• Plots of Mohr's circle at any finite element node are available
• Volume integrals may be computed over the entire problem or any particular region of interest
• Mesh plots track mesh refinement
• Plots of value versus time may be generated at any coordinate for all relevant variables
• Surface plots of any two-dimensional variable over the problem region may be produced
• Overlaying of plots may be performed - for example, vectors may be shown in Region 1 while contours of head may be shown in Region 2
• Text and line art may be added to output
• Graphical output may be exported to WMF, DXF, JPG, or BMP formats
• Animation of any transient results